Envelope-filling machine



prifi 28, 1931. B UTON' 1,803,051

ENVELOPE FILLING MACHINE Filed Jan. 16, 1929 14 Sheets-Sheet 1 A TTORNE Y.

E. L. BOUTON 1,803,051

ENVELOPE FILLING MACHINE Filed Jan. 16, 1929 14 Sheets-Sheet 2 .1 T'I'ORNEY.

28, 1931. E. BOUTON 1,803,051

ENVELOPE FILLING MACHINE INVENTOR.

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E. L. BOUTON ENVELOPE FILLING MACHINE l4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 16, 1929 April 28, 1931. BQUTQN 1,803,051

ENVELOPE FILLI NG MACHINE Filed Jan. 16, 1929 14 Sheets-Sheet 6 V BY Z 4 A T TORNE Y.

April 28, 1931- Y E. 1.. BOUTON 1,803,051

ENVELOPE KILLING MACHINE Filed Jan. 16, 1929 14 Sheets-Sheet 7 [NVENTUR B 4. in: A

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E. L. BOUTON ENVELOPE FILLING MACHINE April 28, 1931.

Filed Jan. 16, 1929 14 Sheets-Sheet 8 Fly. 11

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A T'] 'ORNE Y.

3, 1931- E. 1.. BOUTON 1,803,051

ENVELOPE FILLING MACHINE Filed Jpn. -16, 1929 14 Sheets-Sheet 9 E. L. BOUTON ENVELOPE FILLING MACHINE F l an- 1 2 14 Sheets-Sheet l0 P 23, 1931- E. L. BOUTON 1,803,051

ENVELOPE FILLING MACHINE Filed Jan. 16, 1929 14 Sheets-Sheet ll NW1 Il [52 ATTORNEY April 28, 1931. L. BouToN ENVELOPE FILLING MACHINE Filed Jan. 16, 1929 14 Sheets-Sheet l2 6 Nu RQ UN April 1931- E. L. BOUTON 1,803,051

ENVELOPE FILLING MACHINE Filed Jan. 16, 1929 14 Sheets-Sheet 13 ATTORNEY.

April 28, 1931. E. L. BOUTON ENVELOPE FILLING MACHINE Filed Jan. 16, 1929 14 Sheets-Sheet 14 ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 28, 1931 UNITED STATES,

ELDRID L. BOUTON, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENI VSYLVANIA ENVIEILOPE-FILLING' MACHINE Application filed January 16, 1929. Serial No. 332,943.

This invention relates to an envelope filling machine and more particularly it is adapted to receive envelopes in a magazine with the envelope fiaps in open condition,

feed them through the machine and position them so as to receive enclosures and at the same time feed the enclosures, either one or more from their magazines in timed relation, insert the same in the .envelopes which have the side walls thereof distended to receivethe enclosures, and after receiving the enclosures the filled envelo e is discharged from the machine to a stacl ier by means of which the envelopes are arranged in orderly fashion and can be removed from the machine in stacked formation.

This machine is adapted to fillenvelopes that have already had the flaps thereof opened by treatment in a machine such as illustrated in my copending application Serial No. 319,986, filed November 16, 1928, and is not to be confused with a machine in which the envelope flap is opened and the filling operation subsequently performed all in thesingle machine.

An object of the present invention is to provide a machine in which the proper posi' tioning of the envelo e to-receive its enclosure" is insured by provi ing means which auto matically register the envelope so that .it"

will properly receive its enclosure, this registration beingboth with reference to the vertical and the horizontal.

Another object of the present invention is to provide adjustable parts throughout the machine by means of which a machine can accommodate itself to envelopes of various sizes and shapes'as well as various gauge I 40 ly universal in operation.

An additional object is to automatically stocks thereby rendering the same practicalstop the machine in the event that the stacker 7 mechanism is completely filled or in the event of the failure of an envelope to be fed through the machine and in addition to provide means for manually stopping the machine from eith or end thereof.

An additional object is to provide positive means for engaging the envelope and distending the mouth thereof so as to insure its ,ap ended.

proper positioning to receive its enclosure and in the means for adjusting said mechanism to accommodate envelopes of various size and shape together with means for quickly disassembling said mechanism when it is '5 desired to gain access to parts of the machine for purposes of cleaning or repairing.

Other objects and advantages will be evident as the description proceeds, it being understood, however, that. changes in the proportion, minor details of construction or finish of the various parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the claims hereunto 5 n describing the invention reference will be had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof and in which corresponding parts are similarly numbered throughout the various views.

- Figures 1 to 5 are diagrammatic illustrations of the sequence of operation.

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view through the machine immediately to the rear of oneof the side frames.

Fig. 7 is an end view looking from. the envelope magazine end.

Fig. 8 is a side view looking from the right hand side of Fig. 7

Fig. 9 is a side view of the machine lookso ing at the same from the side opposite'that illustrated in Fig. 8. i i

Fig. 10 is an enlarged fragmentary view illustrating the lower portion of the machine, the main drive clutch arrangement, the stacker and the automatic stops for stopping the machine.

Fig. 10 is a detail view of the means for operating the secondary stop mechanism.

F ig. 11 is a sectional view taken along the line 1111 of Fig. 10. I

Fig. 12 is an enlarged detail View of the mechanism for distending the mouth of the envelope and further illustrates the manner 95 of assembling this mechanism.

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary end elevation of the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 12.

Fig. 14 is a detail perspective View of the means for assembling themouth distending we mechanism, arts thereof being broken away to accommo ate the view to the drawing.

Fig. 1s a fragmentary perspective view of one end of one of the links employed in the envelope mouth distending mechanism.

Fig. 16 is a fragmentary detail perspective view of the end of one of the shafts of said mechanism.

Fig. 17 is a detail perspective vi w showing the manner of locking the shaft of said mechanism which is to be disassemble ll quickly.

Fig. 18 is an enlarged fragmentary side nview partially in section illustrating the mechanism for positioning the envelope verfitically to receive its enclosure and also the means for registering the envelope horizontally, and the means for clamping the enve- Fig. '19 is a fragmentary front view, part thereof being in section, of the same mechanism. Y Fig.20 is a fragmentary end view of the side frame of the machine illustrating the manner of adjusting some of the parts to registering the envelope in the machine.

Fig. 21 is a fragmentary side view of the clutch mechanism and its automatic control,

. portions thereof being shown in section to more clearly illustrate this portion of the invention.

Fig. 22 is a plan View of the same mechanism.

Fig. 23 is a fragmentary side view illustrating the clutch inits disengaged position.

Fig.24 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the tripping mechanism for operating the clutch.

Fig. 25 is a sectional view through the envelope magazine.

Fig. 26 is a plan view thereof.

Fig. 27 is a front elevation ofthe same magazine.

Fig. 28 is a section through the intermittent feed roll, parts thereof being shown in front elevation.

Fig. 29 is a side view of the same mechanism, .part thereof being broken away to accommodate this view of the drawing.

Fig. 30 is an enlarged view of the feed roller.

Fig. 31 is a detail view partially in section of means for adjusting the feed rollers relative to each other to accommodate various thicknesses of stock.

Fig. 32 is a side view of the same adjusting mechanism.

Figs. 33 and 34 are details of the same mech amsm.

Fig. 35 is a detail perspective view of means for adjusting'the feed of the main feed roller.

Fig. 36 isa side view of the pawl plate used in driving the feed roller.

Fig. 37 is an; end view partially in section of the same plate.

Referring more particularly to the drawings and especially to Figs. 1 to 5, the general operation ofthe machine will first be described.

The machine comprises an envelope magazine indicated at 1 which is adapted to contain stacked envelopes with the flaps thereof in open condition and enclosure magazines 2 and 3 which are adapted to receive env closures in stacked relation it being understood, of course, that any manner of magazines maybe employed depending upon the character of the work to be done.

Immediately below each of the magazines tively are intermittently fed from the magazines in timed relation so that upon' reaching a predetermined location the cnevelope mouth will be distended and the enclosures inserted therein.

The feed roll 4 beneath the envelope mag. zine 1 feeds the envelope between the rollers 5 which in turn pass the envelope downwardly between the rollers (i and the adjustable detlecting plate 7.

' Further movement of the envelope causes the same to be fed between the oscillating plate 8 and the stationary plate 9 as clearly indicated in Fig.2 and the envelope continues its movement between the plates 8 and 9 until the lower edge of the envelope engages the register bars 18.

At this time the plate 8 is oscillated by mechanism which will be described hereinafter so as to clamp the flap of the envelope between the upper edge of plate 8 and the lower edge of deflector plate 7.

It will thus be seen that the envelope is now held in a stationary position with the flap thereof securely gripped between the oscillatthe back of the envelope away from the face thereof and maintain the envelope mouth in distended condition as clearly illustrated in Fi 3.

Rt this time the enclosures from the maga zines 2 and 3 have been fed through the maother and pass between the rollers 11 and 12 in superposed condition and are directed against the curved rear face of the adjustable deflecting plate 7 by means of which they are fed downwardly into the'distendcd moutlr of the envelope. v

Immediately before the envelope receives its enclosure the register bar 18 is Withdrawn, at which time the envelope flap is clamped by the plate 8 so that the sole supporting means for the envelope is the clamping action on the flap. The envelope is, therefore, suspended by means of its flap and upon insertion of the enclosure inthe envelope while in this suspended condition a downward tension is exerted on the envelope so as to insure the enclosure properly passing 'into the envelope. After the enclosure'has been inserted in the envelope the plate 8 oscillates to its released position where'it is in position to receive the next succeeding envelope and the envelope which has been filled is accordingly freed from clamping between the deflecting plate and the oscillating plate and falls be-- tween the endless belts 20 and 21 where it is fed downwardly to. the stacker mechanism,

By referring to Fig. 5, it is believed that this operation can be clearly understood and in this figure the stacker mechanism is illustrated diagrammatically as comprising slide rods 28 carrying thereon guide rods 25, the vertical face of which is in alignment with the pass between the endless belts 20 and 21 so that a filled envelope coming from the endless conveyors slides downwardly along the vertical face of the guide rods 25 and into contact with the-stacking roller 26 contacting therewith at approximately the point 27.

The stacking roller 26 is provided with a series of enlargements 29 and .has the face thereof composed of friction material so that as the roller 26 is rotated it forces the filled envelope downwardly against the rods 28 and against the back plate 31 which is carried by the slide 32 and which slides upon the rods 28.

It is believed to be obvious that'at the start of operation the back plate 31 is placed close to the guide rods 25 and that as the envelopes are successively fed from the'endless belts 20 and 21 the roller 27 holds the lower edge of the envelope into engagement with the rods 28 and against the back plate 31 which is adapted to slide'rearwardly to accommodate each succeeding envelope until the magazine is completely filled, at which time means are provided for automatically stopping the operating parts while still permitting the power mechanism to continue its motion.

From an examination of Figs. 1 to 5 of the drawing it is believed to be evident that the enclosures are fed from the magazines 2 and 3 respectively by a series of feed rolls rollers 10 and'the feed rollers 11 and 12 into engagement with the curved rear face of the adjustable deflecting plate 7 by means of which they are given a vertical position and inserted into the mouth of the open envelo e.

Enclosures from the magazine 3 are ied by means of the roller 4 between the rollers 13 and 14-, 15-16, where they assume a horizontal positionas indicated at 17 and pass forwardly to meet the enclosure from the magazine 2 as clearly illustrated in Fig. 3 where it likewise is curved to a vertical position by means of the deflector plate 7 and inserted in the envelope.

From the foregoin it is believed that the general operation 0% the machine can be clearly understood and the construction .of the various parts and the mechanisms for accomplishing these results will now be described. 1

Referring now to Figs. 6 and 7 it will be seen that the machine comprises the side frames X and'Y which are spaced apart by means of suitable tie rods 32 and between which the rotatin feed rollers aremounted.

On the upper edge of the frames X and Y are provided the magazines for the envelopes and the enclosures, the envelope magazine being illustrated at 1 and the enclosure magazines being illustrated at 2 and 3. 3

Immediately below and adjacent the front end of each magazine I provide the intermittently operating feed rolls 4 which are adapted to receive and support the lower edge of the lowermost envelope or enclosure of each stack and as heretofore described the envelopes are fed by means of this roller 4 tinuously in view of the fact that these rolls are 'all suitably geared together as clearly illustrated in Fig. 8 where the gear train is generally indicated at D on one side of the machine, and in Fig. 9, the gear train is indicated at G on the other side of the machine.

Any suitable gearing may be resorted to but it is believed to be solely a question of mechanical skill, and, therefore, it is not believed necessary to describe in detail the specific type or manner of gearing.

As heretofore described the envelope passing from the magazine 1 finally enters between the oscillating plate 8 and the station- .ary plate 9. At the proper moment the horizontal register bars 18 are fed forward by means of a bell crank 34 and cam lever 35 which is pivoted to the bell crank 34 at point 36, the position of the horizontal register 18 at that time being clearly illustrated in Figs.

1 to 3 and it arrests and registers the envelope between plates 8 and 9. By projecting theregister bar 18 into the path of travel of the envelope the envelope is caused to assume its proper vertical position and I provide a pin 57 lllOLllltCtllll the block 58 which is slidablc with the sha ft 59 and operated by the cam lever (30, as will be described hereinafter which causes the envelope to be registered horizontally so that it will be in position to receive the enclosures from the magazines 2' and 3.

After the envelope has been filled and released from engagement with the plates 8 and 9 it drops between the endless belts 20 and 21 which move the same downwardly. However, in this downward movement the filled envelope is checked by means of a secondary stop 37 and a detector pin 38 is permitted to be snapped forward by means of the spring 39 into engagement with the envelope, the pin 38 and stop 37 being adapted to pass between theendless belts 20 and 21.

If the envelope is in proper position between the bolts 20 and 21 forward movement of the detector pin 38 will be arrested by the a pin 42 which is integral with the shaft 43 as will be illustrated later and will cause the feeding through the belts indicates either that no envelopes are being fed from the magazine 1 or that the envelopes have become clogged somewhere in the machine above the stop.

In either ase it is essential that the machine be stopped t avoid injury both to the material being opm'ated upon and to the. various parts of the machine and it is for this reason that I provide the automatic stop mechanism. It is believed to be clear that if an envelope is passing in proper position between the belts 20 and 21 the stop 37 and detector pin 38 will not operate to automatically stop the machine, but the envelope will continue its movement between the belts and finally assume the position as indicated at 47 in the stacking mechanism.

In addition to the mechanism for stopping the machine in theevent of amming or failure of envelopes in the magazine 1, I provide additional means for automatically stopping the machines when the stacking mechanism has become filled. This is important as otherwise constant attention would be needed bythe operator and if the operator neglected to remove the filled envelopes when the stacker was filled they would pile up upon each other, thereby injuring the machine and completely ruining the article being treated.

The mechanism for automatically stop ing the machine upon the filling of the stac ing mechanismis illustratedin Fig. 6, where it will be seen that as the stacker is successively filled the back plate 31 is gradually pushed rearwardly until it reaches the end of its movement at which time the downwardly extending lug 50 integral with the plate 31 engages the stud 51 on the rocking lever 52 which is pivoted to the side frame at the point 53 where upon the end of the lever 52 carv rying the stud 51 is depressed. The other end .54 so that upon upward movement of the end of the lever 52 the bar 54 is given a vertical movement and engages with the pin 42 carried on the shaft 43 to rotate the same, it being noted, however, that the bar 54 engages the pin 42 on an end opposite to the end which is engaged by the cam face 41 of the lever 40.

The function, however, is the same, that is, by rotation of the shaft 43 either by the angular face 41 or-by the rod 54, the clutch on the shaft 44 is disengaged, thereby stopping movement of the operating parts.

The specific construction and operation of the clutch mechanism will be described hereinafter morespecifically.

Mouth distev'tdz'ng mechanism It has been stated hercinbefore that when the envelope is clamped between the oscillating plate 8 and the deflector plate 7, the fingers 19 come into position to grip the upper edge of the back of the envelope and distends the mouth thereof to receive its enclosure. This mechanisntwill now be described.

. the stud-75, thereb By referring to Fig. 12 it will be seen that the fingers 19 are pivoted on the shaft 66 which extends between the side frames X and Y of the machine and the nose 67 thereof is caused to move in a vertical plane by means of the cam 68 rotating with the cam shaft 62, the motion being transmitted from the cam 68 through the levers 69, 70, 71, the lever 69 being fastened to and oscillating with the shaft 72 and the levers 70 are likewise fastened to each end of the shaft 72 By referring to Figs. 14 and 15, it will be seen that the end of each lever 7 0 is provided with a recess 73 communicating with an entering slot and that this recess is adapted to receive the reduced portion 74 of a stud 75 (Fig. 16) which is threaded into the end of the shaft 76. p

The lever 71 is bolted by means of the stud 75 against the face 77 of the shaft 76, the reduced portion 74 resting in the seat 73, but in order to revent accidental displacement of the shaft 76 from the seat 7 3,- I provide a spring retaining arm 78. This spring arm 78 is secured to a stud 7 8" on the lever 70 and passes between supporting studs 7 8 integral with the lever 70 and disposed on opposite sides of the fiat portion of the spring and has at its end a depressed portion 789 which is adapted to encircle the reduced portion 74 of maintaining the shaft 76 in the seat 73. he spring 78 'is in addition provided with an extending lip 7 8 which provides a finger lever by means of which the spring can be raised so as to release the shaft 76 and permit its removal from the seat 73 of the lever 70.

It will be seen, therefore, that under ordi-, nary conditions of vibration due to operation of the machine, the shaft 76 will be maintained in position and that a pull sufficient to overcome the tension of thespring 78 is necessary to release the shaft.

The purpose of removably mounting the shaft 76 in the lever 70 is to permit the envelope distending mechanism to be temporarily withdrawn from place for purposes of adjusting or repair and quickly snapped again into proper position.

In order to accomplish this removal I also mount the fin ers 19 removably and b again referring to igs. 12 and 17, it can lie seen that the lever 80 is provided with a bayonet slot 80 passing through the side edge of the lever 80 and into which the pivot shaft 66 for the lever 19 is passed. In order to maintain the shaft 66 in the bayonet-slot I provide the spring 80 attached to the arm 80 by means of the stud 80 and passing between the studs 80 located on opposite sides of the spring and provided at the upper end of the spring 80 is a trough 8O which is adapted to receive the shaft 66, thereby supporting the same in position. .The spring 80 is also provided'with a finger piece 8O by means of which the shaft may be removed from its bearing. It can be seen by referring to Fig. 17 that the fingers 19 are rigidly secured to the shaft 66 by means of the screw 81 passing through the collar integral with the fingers 19 and it will be seen, therefore, that upon release of the shaft 66 from the slot 80"-- and the release of the shaft 76 from the seat 73 the fingers may be completely swung out of envelope that is being filled, the machine being adapted to operate on various sizes of stock as'has been stated heretofore.

In Fig. 12 the finger 19 is shown in a low position and clearing'the circumference of the feed rollers 12. Nevertheless, it takes a higher position at times that causes it to move upward between the rollers 12. To adjust the fingers 19, therefore, on shaft 66 would be extremely diflicult unless it were possible to move the fingers 19 clear of the rollers 12 and make such adjustment as would be necessary and then place the fingers 19 back into position and the shaft 66 in its bearing.

Furthermore, most of the jamming of the machine, if an envelope should tear or an enclosure become creased, is likely to happen between the plates 8 and 9. To facilitate the removal of the crumpled envelope or enclosure, the mechanism comprising the fingers 19, levers 71, shafts 66 and 82 can be quickly swung out of position by pulling the shafts 66 and 76 out of their sockets as before described to permit access to the plates 8 and 9.

The distending fingers 19 are given a substantially rectangular movement, that is to say, it moves in a horizontal path inwardly above the upper edge of the-back of the envelope, then vertically downwardly into en-. gagement with the top edge of the back of the envelope, then rearwardly to pull the rear of the envelope away from the face there of and again vertically to the starting position. As has already been described the vertical movement of the fingers 19 is imparted by the cam 68. The horizontal movement is accomplished by means of the cam 83, likewise carried by the shaft 62 lever 84 and double levers 80 and 80. On the lever 80 I provide an angular extension 80 and on the lever 80 a similar a'n lar extension 80 through which is passe a bolt 80* encircled by the spring 87 which bears at opposite ends against the an ular extensions 80 and 80 for normally holding the extensions in separated condition. On the end of the bolt 80 I provide a knurled knob 89 screw threadedly engaging the bolt In addition to the yielding movement of' the fingers 19 during their horizontal move ment I also provide means for producing a yielding movement of the fingers 19 during their vertical movement. This is accomplished by means of the structure shown in Fig. 14 in which the link 71 is provided with an elongated slot 71' encircling the shaft 82 and has at its upper end an angular extension 7 0 carrying the bolt 70 encircled by the spring 70 hearing against the angular extension at one end and against the shaft 82 at the other end and the bolt 70 is screw threaded to be engaged by the knurled knob 88 so that by adjustment thereof the distance between the shaft 82 and the extension 7 0 can be varied and at the same time provide.

for a yielding and adjustable support of the fingers 19 in their vertical movement.

From the foregoing, therefore, it is to .be seen that the noses 67 of the envelope opening fingers 19 can be caused to move in one direction by a cam and in another direction by spring pressure and to be moved vertically by cam action in one direction, and a spring counter action. It will also be seen that by adjustment of the knobs 88 the relative vertical position of the noses 67 can be altered independent of the various lever links and by adjustment of the knob 89 the horizontal position of the nose 67 can be altered irrespective of the lever or pivot positions.

E'Melope positioning and clamping media-- "it will be seen that the oscillating plate 8 is provided with an ear 8 projecting from the rear face thereof a-hd is provided withan aperture and that secured to the plate 8 is a lever 89 pivoted to the ear 8* by means of the pivot 90.

Riveted in the plate 8 and extending from the rear face thereof is a screw threaded stud 91 which passes through an angular lug 92 on the'lever 89' and between the plate 8 and the bent lug and surrounding the screw threaded stud 91 is a spring 93 which normally tends to swing the lug 92 away from the plate 8. In order to limit swinging of this lever 89' I provide a second angular extension 94 on the lever 89 and pass therethrou h a screw 94' which is adapted to engage t e plate 8 so that by adjusting of the screw 94' the pivotal movement of the lever 89 is limited. On the stud 91 is a nut 91 by means of which tension on the spring 93 may be varied.

It is to be noted that the lever 89 is substantially triangular in-shape and'at the apex of the triangle is a roller 97 which contacts with the cam 96 and is, therefore, periodicall swings into clamping position the plate 8. t is to be noted that the plate 8 is pivoted to the shaft 95 at its lower end and at its upper end the pla'te'is ofi'set as at 97 so as to provide a ledge which coincides with the lower portion of the deflector plate 7 when the oscillating plate 8 is in its clamping position. Fig. 20 illustrates how the plate 8 when clamped against the lower portion of the deflector plate 7 will grip the flap end of the envelope 98 at the right angle turn 99.

Counteracting against the sprin 93 is the spring 100 secured at one end to t eplate 8 and at the other end to the shaft 59 which tends to retain the plate 8 also in open position and the roller 97 against the cam 96.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the plate 8 has a yielding clamping action due to the spring 93 cooperating with the angular lug 92 so that regardless of the thickness of the paper which constitutes the envelope it will clamped between the plate 8 and the deflector plate '7 and no adjustment of this plate will be necessary since the yielding contact permits this plate to automatically take care of variations in thickness of stock being operated upon. In addition to the vertical adjustment of the fingers 19 by means of the knob 88 I further provide for the adjustment of the register bars 18 to accommodate envelopes of various shapes and sizes and in Figs. 18 and 19 it will be seen that the register bar 18 is supported adjacent its forward end on the bar 102 which is suspended at each end by means of links 103 rotatable with the shaft 95. Integrally fastened to theshaft 95 and on the outside of the frame X is a slotted link 104 (Figure 20) provided at its upper end with a handle 104 and fixed at its lower end on the shaft 95. Rigidly secured to the frame X is a screw threaded stud 105 which projects through the slot 105' in the slotted plate 104 and has threadedly engaging therewith the knurled knob 105 It will thus be seen that by loosening the knob 105 and swinging the slotted plate about its pivotal point by means of the handle 

